Decorative lapel pocket handkerchief



tes ate.

3,026,532 DECORATIVE LAPEL POCKET HANDKERCHIEF Alex J. Janz, 3332 S. 9th Place, Milwaukee, Wis.

Filed June 29, 1959, Ser. No. 823,701 2 Claims. (Cl. 2-279) This invention relates generally to a decorative lapel pocket handkerchief and more particularly to a decorative handkerchief that is especially adapted to be retained in proper position in the lapel pocket of a suit jacket for decorative purposes.

It is customary to wear a handkerchief in the lapel pocket of a suit jacket with the handkerchief being partially exposed above the top of the pocket for ornamental purposes. In order to obtain the desired decorative elfect it is essential that the handkerchief be neatly maintained with the upper portion protruding above the top portion of the pocket. However, as-the wearer moves about in normal activity, the handkerchief tends to drop into the pocket so that the handkerchief disappears completely into the pocket or a smaller portion than desired is exposed and the handkerchief will frequently shift so that it is not in alignment with the top of the pocket in which case it detracts rather than adds to the appearance of the wearer.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved decorative handkerchief for the lapel pocket of a suit jacket.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved decorative lapel pocket handkerchief that will be accurately maintained in the desired position in the pocket during the normal activity of the wearer.

Another object is to provide an improved decorative lapel pocket handkerchief with a pliable insert that will grip the pocket at its seams to firmly retain the handkerchief in the pocket with its upper portion exposed for ornamental purposes.

A further purpose is to provide a decorative lapel pocket handkerchief of simple and inexpensive construction which will serve its purpose with improved efficiency.

According to this invention, the improved decorative lapel pocket handkerchief comprises a sheet of material such as, for example, textile or paper, folded into the shape of the upper portion of the conventional handkerchief which is normally exposed above the upper edge of the lapel pocket. The lower portion of the edges of the folded handkerchief are sewed together to form a pocket for receiving an insert which is formed of a rigid but bendable material, preferably a plastic material. The insert is provided with points at its opposite edges and is slightly longer than the width of the pocket. When inserting the handkerchief into the lapel pocket, the plastic insert in the handkerchief pocket will be bent to permit its entry into the lapel pocket. When the handkerchief is properly positioned in the pocket, the Plastic insert will he released to allow it to assume its normal straight configuration and as it does so its points will force the seams of the handkerchief pocket into firm engagement with the seams of the lapel pocket to retain the handkerchief in the desired decorative location.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention, which will become apparent from the following detailed description setting forth an illustrative embodiment, may be achieved by the particular apparatus depicted in and described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of a piece of textile material from which the decorative handkerchief of the present invention is formed, the material being shown in its unfolded condition;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the material illustrated in FIGURE 1 but with its end portions folded to the center of the piece;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view illustrating the material shown in FIGURE 1 in its completely folded condition and sewn at its edge to form the handkerchief of the present invention without its insert;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the pliable insert employed to hold the handkerchief in place in a lapel pocket of a jacket.

FIGURE 5 is a front elevational view illustrating the pliable insert of FIGURE 4 in position in the handkerchief depicted in FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view illustrating the handkerchief of the present invention in the lapel pocket of a mans suit jacket.

Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings which illustrate the formation of a decorative lapel pocket handkerchief in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. The handkerchief is formed of a piece of textile, paper, or other suitable material which is illustrated in FIG. 1 and is generally identified by the reference numeral 10. The piece of material 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is of rectangular configuration with the two longitudinal edges of the piece being provided with hems 11 and 12. in the conventional manner.

In order to form the handkerchief it is necessary to fold the piece 10 into the condition illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5. The lines along which these folds are formed in the piece 11 are indicated by the broken lines 15, 16 and 17 hi FIG. 1. Therefore, it will be noted that the fold lines divide the piece into four panels 18, 19, 20 and 21.

The first step in folding the handkerchief to the condition illustrated in FIG. 3 is to fold the two end panels 18 and 21 inwardly to the center of the piece of material which lies along the fold line 16. Therefore, the panel 1% will be folded to overlie the panel 19 with a crease being formed along the fold line 15. In like manner, the panel 21 will be folded over to overlie the panel 20 so that the lower edge of the piece of material 10 will coincide with the fold line 16. With the two end panels 18 and 21 thus folded toward the center of the piece 19, the material will be folded to one half of its original size as illustrated in FIG. 2. Since the panels 18 and 21 are overlying the panels 19 and 20 respectively, the panels 18 and 21 appear in FIG. 2 with the two ends of the piece It) being disposed along the central fold line 16 as clearly shown in FIG. 2.

The final folding operation is completed by folding the piece of material as shown in FIG. 2 in half so that it will appear as depicted in FIG. 3. This is accomplished by folding the two panels 20 and 21 upwardly from the position shown in FIG. 2 so that they overlie the two panels 18 and 19. A crease is therefore formed along the central fold line 16 and the two end panels 18 and 21 are folded to the inside of the handkerchief with their surfaces lying together. Since the panels 20' and 21 have been folded upwardly from the position illustrated in FIG. 2, the panel 20 is exposed in FIG. 3 and the handkerchief, as shown in FIG. 3, is comprised of four folds of material.

After the piece of textile material 10 has been folded to the condition illustrated in FIG. 3, the ends 24 and 25 of the folded piece as illustrated in FIG. 3 have four edges of the material. These four folds of material are sewn together along the lower halves of the ends 24 ,and 25 by stitching 29 and 30 respectively to form a pocket between the stitching 29' and 30.

The pocket formed by the stitching 29 and 30 is for the purpose of receiving an insert 35 which is formed of a stiff but pliable material so that the insert may be bent longitudinally a small amount. The insert 35 is provided with concave ends 36 and 37 with the concave configuration of the end 36 forming two points 38 while the concave configuration by the end 37 forms two points 39.

The insert 35 is placed into the pocket formed by the stitching 29 and 30 between the two panels 18 and 21. The insert 35 is of sufficient length to cause its points 38 and 39 to bear against the stitching 29 and 30 as indicated in the view in FIG. 5 where the insert 35 is shown in position in the pocket between the stitching 29 and 36.

The width of the handkerchief is equal to or just slightly greater than the width of the lapel pocket into which it is to be inserted. In order to position the handkerchief in the lapel pocket for decorative purposes, the lower half of the handkerchief containing the insert 35 as well as the stitching 29 and is inserted into the pocket in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6 where a pocket 45 is shown on a mans suit jacket 46 with the handkerchief of the present invention inserted in position. The top of the pocket 45 is defined by a hem 47 and it will be noted that the lower half of the handkerchief containing the insert is located beneath the top of the pocket 45 so that it is concealed from view. The insert 35 is of sufficient length so that its points 38 and 39 may slightly penetrate the stitching 29 and 30 to grip the seams of the pocket 45, it being necessary to bend the insert 35 longitudinally a slight amount to facilitate its placement into the pocket. When the insert 35 and the handkerchief within which it is contained are released, the points 38 and 39 of the insert 35 grip the seams of the pocket 45 to hold the handkerchief in position. With the lower half of the handkerchief contained in the pocket 45 to conceal the stitching 29 and 30, the upper, decorative portion of the handkerchief is exposed above the edge of the pocket 45 to provide the desired decorative effect. The upper half of the handkerchief may be plain, may contain a decorative design, or may bear the wearers initial in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6.

Since the points 38 and 39 of the insert 35 are gripping the seams of the pocket 45, the handkerchief will be maintained in the desired position so that the decorative exposed portion of the handkerchief will always be in the proper position to provide the neat appearance. Although the wearer of the handkerchief may move about or remove the jacket, the location of the handkerchief in the pocket will not be disturbed.

From the foregoing detailed description of the formation and utilization of the illustrative embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent that there has been provided a new and improved decorative lapel pocket handkerchief which is especially adapted to be retained in the proper position in the lapel pocket of a suit handkerchief during the normal activity of the wearer as well as during the handling of the jacket.

Although the illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described in considerable detail for the purpose of making a full disclosure of a practical operative arrangement by means of which the invention may be practised, it is to be understood that various features of the invention may be incorporated in other structural forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claims.

The principles of the invention having now been fully explained in connection with the foregoing description of embodying structure, I hereby claim as my invention:

1. In a decorative lapel pocket handkerchief; an elongated sheet of material folded along its longitudinal axis into four overlying panels of similar dimension to form folds perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said elongated sheet of material mm the two ends being folded to meet at the central portion of the length of the material and then a fold being formed along the central portion of the material to form the bottom edge of the handkerchief, the width of said sheet of material and the panels formed thereby conforming substantially to the width of the lapel pocket in which the handkerchief is placed; stitching extending along the lower portion of two opposite side edges of the two outer panels to secure the bottom portion of the side edges of the outer panels together and thereby form a pocket between the two lengths of stitching with the pocket being open at the top; and an integrally formed insert of stiff but pliable material located in said pocket and being shaped to form one or more points that extend from each end thereof, said insert being of suflicient length to enable the extremities of its points to penetrate the edges of the pocket in the handkerchief and engage the seams of the lapel pocket into which the handkerchief is placed for the purpose of retaining the handkerchief in position in the lapel pocket.

2. In a decorative lapel pocket handkerchief; an elongated sheet of material folded along its longitudinal axis into four overlying panels of similar dimension to form folds perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said elongated sheet of material with the two ends being folded to meet at the central portion of the length of the material and then a fold being formed along the central portion of the material to form the bottom edge of the handkerchief, the width of said sehet of material and the panels formed thereby conforming substantially to the width of the lapel pocket in which the handkerchief is placed; a pocket formed by stitching along the lower portion of the handkerchief to extend across its width with the bottom fold of the handkerchief constituting the bottom of said pocket; and an insert of stiff but pliable material located in said pocket, said insert being of suflicient length to urge the extremities of said pocket in which it is located into engagement with the seams of the lapel pocket into which the handkerchief is placed for the purpose of retaining the handkerchief in position in the lapel pocket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,136,691 Jasperson Nov. 15, 1938 2,722,013 Fisher Nov. 1, 1955 2,813,320 Krimbel Nov. 19, 1957 2,909,785 Mysels Oct. 27, 1959 

